


morning gray

by ienablu



Series: passages [3]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Ghost Drifting, Multilingualism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 05:50:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8434099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ienablu/pseuds/ienablu
Summary: Vladivostok mornings are cold and dreary.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Confabulatrix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Confabulatrix/gifts).



> Tu es un cadeau.
> 
> Also, it's been awhile since I've brushed up on my French and/or Japanese, but this should be approximately correct.

Everything is spinning. It’s no surprise – they were returning Pang So-Yi and An Yuna to their Shatterdome after a photoshoot, and the Kaidonovskies had allegedly perfected their bootleg rhubodka. Neither he nor she nor Yancy can attest to the success given that they don’t remember most of the night. Hangovers are uncommon for most co-pilots – the Hansens are notorious for (Scott) going too hard and the Jessops have a funny story that everyone knows but everyone knows different versions of, but this hasn’t happened to her and Yancy – her and Raleigh – him and Yancy – her and Raleigh yet.

Because they hadn’t drank.

Mako takes a deep breath in, cold air that burns the back of her throat, and lets it out.

“Nous ne sommes jamais á boire,” Raleigh says against her neck.

(Yancy said against his shoulder.)

Édith Piaf echoes in the back of their mind.

(Non, je ne regrette rien, Raleigh had mumbled in reply.)

Mako’s hand finds Raleigh’s, and she covers hers with his.

“Daijoubu?” he asks.

“Je ne sais pas,” elle wa hanasu.

There’s a knock at the door.

(Édith is being sung by Jaz as she gets ready for school, while Raleigh is pounding at the door.)

“Casse-toi,” she yells at the door. “Nous ne partons pas pour une autre heure.”

“You two okay in there?”

It’s Tendo. Tendo Choi. Her and Raleigh’s makeshift personal assistant on the Victory Tour. Their original personal assistant was a New Englander who was unendingly enthusiastic about the victory. Tendo is Mako and Raleigh’s friend, and had stepped in. They are in Vladivostok. They are– 

“Nous sommes–” Raleigh starts. He lets out a full-body sigh that reverberates through Mako. “We’re fine. Give us a few minutes.”

“Alright…” Tendo says. He adds something in Cantonese, but it falls outside the stock phrases they know between them.

Mako thinks of Sensei – discipline, control, getting up in the morning when you don’t want to – and pushes herself to sitting.

Raleigh thinks of Sensei – gently coaxing her out of bed their first stay in Vladivostok when the generators were failing and it was too cold outside her bed – and tears gather in his eyes. Mako brushes her fingers over his forehead.

“Atashi wa akka shite imasu,” il dit.

“Je sais.”

Mako takes his hand. “We–” she says, very carefully, her and him and no one else, “should talk to Dr. Lightcap.”

“Watashi wa…” he trails off. Takes a deep breath in, lets a deep breath out. His breathe mists as a ghost between them. Full power has been returned to the Shatterdome, there are plenty of blankets, it is a warm and cozy morning. But Vladivostok mornings are cold and dreary and the gray lingers in the company of so much other matter.“I think that’s a good idea.”

“We should get up,” Mako continues.

“We should,” Raleigh agrees.

Neither move.

It is not a gray inaction – Mako is sitting with her back against the wall, and Raleigh has shifted so his head is in her lap. This is a choice, clear and intentional. Raleigh reaches up, presses his fingertips to the curve of her cheek. There is no echo. This is new, and, more important, this is _them_ , him and her and no one else. Him and her and his palm on her cheek. Him and her and her soft smile glowing only for him. There is too much gray to be held at bay for too long, and they will seek out and confront what lingers in that fog, but it does not change this moment. Her hand settling atop his, his smile matching hers.

There’s another knock at the door. Tendo is cautious this time as he calls, “You two doing alright?”

Raleigh pushes himself up to sitting with a sigh.

Mako calls back, “We’re fine.”


End file.
